Story number 1 for 14 Feb 2001

(Israel)–We begin today’s newscast in Israel where two rival camps are very close to forming a joint government that would seek only a partial peace deal with the Palestinians. The Christian Broadcasting Network has been watching the developments involving prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon, in light of their ministry in the Middle East. For security reasons, we’ll call our source “Jim”. “He doesn’t want to alienate the Palestinians and he doesn’t want to alienate the moderates in Israel. But, of course the tension has increased because of Sharon because he’s much more hawkish than Barak was. We just have to pray that he continues down a moderate road so that the peace process will continue.” “Jim” says they’re not unduly concerned about the effect of the talks on the Palestinians and the Muslim world. However, he says prayer is wise. “We are seeing a much greater response in the last five years compared to the 20 years before that, so God is obviously doing something. He’s preparing the Muslim world as a harvest field, and we just need to be ready.”